AFRICA: Violence against Children in Africa - The challenges and priorities for action

Summary: Document prepared for the 15th Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 15-19 March 2010, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Violence remains a pervasive problem, hidden from the public view and almost totally absent from the political agenda. Studies by the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) of children in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia suggest that almost all children under the age of 15 experience some form of violence at home, at school, in institutions, on the streets or at the workplace.1

Girls particularly are vulnerable with a huge proportion reporting to have been victims of one form of violence or another including physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Because much violence is ubiquitous and yet largely invisible, because it is an assault on the inherent dignity of children and because of its serious adverse implications for their physical and psychological wellbeing, urgent action is needed to prevent and end all forms of violence.
ACPF believes we are at an opportune moment in the history of childhood to bring this about. The issue has been gaining increased attention in recent years, especially at the international level. Following the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Secretary General appointed in 2003 an independent expert to lead and conduct an in-depth study on violence against children. This culminated in the publication of the Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children in 2006 and subsequently in the appointment of a United Nations Special Representative, Marta Santos Pais, in 2009. Here in Africa, the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (the Committee) has shown, perhaps more than any other body in the region, particular interest and addressed the issue in several of its previous sessions. In 2006 it dedicated the theme of the Day of the African Child to violence against children in Africa.

These positive developments at the level of the UN and the AU provide an excellent opportunity for vigorous action and momentum on this important issue. In this regard, the Committee as the custodian of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Charter) has a moral and political responsibility to take the leadership in what is still by and large an embryonic movement to end all forms of violence against children and to promote a culture of zero tolerance to it here in Africa.

Further information

pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/ACERWC_ACPF_presentation_on_Violence__Final_16_...

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